PRESENTATION 3

Animation
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PROJECT IDEA
With the research I did on the axolotl in the previous two assignments, I found
out that they have a strong bond in Aztec mythology. The name ‘Axolotl’ derives
from the Aztec god Xoltl, who was the god of fire and lightning with having the
duality of being the god of twins, monsters, misfortune, deformities and sickness.
Is depictions in the Aztec artworks was a dog-headed man he main role was to
guide souls into the underworld. With this role, the role of dogs in Aztec society
was an sacrificial death upon a death of a deceased persons funeral. Xoltl wasn’t
just only a dog-headed man but a shapeshifter trickster, which when the time for
this sacrifice, he slipped away turning into several types of species of plants and
animals, including a corn crop, and his last transformation before death, as a
salamander, which later was named the axolotl.

My main idea for the short film, as a eerie chase sequence between xolotl and the
executioner though the corn fields, as his last transformation of axolotl, I decided
to let him live as a close-near death experience. I have decided to have the
animation as a 2D animation that will be created on calliper, with the
accompanied backgrounds drawn in procreate as that Is my usual animation
software, by using premier pro for final editing and collections of scenes. The
animation will be fully black and white, besides two accent colours that each
character has in their eyes, while later becoming xolotl’s salamander colour.
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RESEARCH 3

These are from some of the Aztec ruins that were found,
the dagger (left) was believed to be the executioner’s
dagger, while the clothing of wear seemed to have
different variety’s, depending on what social class they are
from. The beast that is shown below is from an Aztec
engravery showcasing their belief of the god Xoltl these
colours show a world with several types of animals
throughout it’s body.
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XOLTL CHARACTER
SKETCHES

I tried to use the inspiration of the Aztec

artwork into my deisgn, but I had to
oversimply it due to animation. My original
idea was to have him be full wolf, but I felt
like it was more representing to have him
have a shapeless human body. I also kept
the yellow/gold colour that was in the
original artwork to highlight the eyes,
which later on became the axolotl’s colour
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EXECUTIONER

CHARACTER SKETCHES
With the executioner, I had a clear
understanding of what I wanted in the
characters design, by having it be inspired by
the cloth that the ancient artwork was shown
but having it white and having the character
have blue eyes while also keeping the shapeless
body underneath with the added contrasted
xoltl very much and I decided that the
animation style for this character would be
much more cleaner lines, compared to the
sketchier artwork of axolotl. Which is shown by
his blade as the executioner’s “clean cut” feels
unnatural.
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EXECUTIONER
CHARACTER DESIGN
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XOLTL CHARACTER
DESIGN
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XOLTL AXOLOTL
DESIGN
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STORYBOARD 9
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SHOT LIST
BACKGROUND REFERENCES
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BACKGROUND RIVER ART 1 12

All these were done in procreate, I ended up making the scenes black and white
to give it the mood that a more serious tone that I wanted. I did ended up
making several “corn” procreate brushes to replicate the grass, to keep up with
time constraints, but I felt like this technique was effective and didn’t have any
negative effects on the final project.
SHOT 7 & 9 SHOT 13
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BACKGROUND CLOSE UP ART 2

Shot 11 Shot 3 & 6

Shot 4 & 14 Shot 2 & 5
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BACK GROUND ART- UNDERWATER

SHOT 10 SHOT 12
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CALLIPEG
I ended up using callipeg for the first
time in a while as I used it for my final
project in my highschool, with a fee of
3$ a month, I had access to multiple
layers and the same shortcuts that
procreate had, but I felt like the program
didn’t limit me like procreate’s
animation software. I was able to have
multiple layers which allowed to start of
with a following shape, leading it
multiple sections of animation, making
it all into one layer, I did have some
small formatting issues as my earlier
scenes I did choose the wrong format
making the animation quality for that
scene bad, but I couldn’t really change it
as those scenes took me hours and I was
on a time constraint.
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ANIMATION PROCESS

STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 STAGE 4

Rough sketch Basic rough lineart Basic shape outline White line finish
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I ended up liking the connected “LTL” and the rough nature the “bristle” brush had on the last text. Which
ended up having my final title sequence.
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EDITING ON
PREMIERE PRO
Premier pro was an easier software to use
due to my previous experience with it. It
allowed me to cut any of the awkward
pauses that the animation might have,
while also allowing to have a replay on
animation cycle some characters may have.
It also helped me regulate the irregular
borders that occurred during the animation
process. I edited all the scenes as I
continued with the animation, making sure
to edit the visuals before I started thinking
about the audio.
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SOUNDS USED
I completely made sure that the audio had no
music or any sort of sound effect that may
sound unnatural, expect one exemption with
the transformation sound as I needed
something that stood out for the magical part of
xoltl’s transformations. The sound effects are
exclusvly from two websites to make
referencing them easier, there are links to both
below, I had a ambience sound folder and
action sound folders, which allowed to me to
work in different types of ambience with each
three areas, the field, the pond/river bed, and
under the water, the other sounds covered basic
actions which give it a sense of realness,
including the heavy breathing that xoltl does,
and the cape flapping in the wind the
executioner has. Royalty free action sounds Royalty free background sounds
https://soundbible.com/tags-creek.html https://www.fesliyanstudios.com
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FINAL EDITING

This Is with all the sounds included, this also shows the repetitive cuts and loops
that I made throughout the editing process, including the layering of the sound
effects.
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25 KEY FRAMES OF ANIMATION

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25 KEY FRAMES OF ANIMATION 2

 VIDEO LINK
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https://youtu.be/NDNo0AtoeIg
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CONCLUSION
i really enjoyed doing this project, this is the longest amount of
animation I have ever done, which has taught me a lot in the process of
doing it, and further learning in the program of callipeg. It was extremely
time consuming but it felt rewarding to see it all finished. This would
probably be one of my favourite projects that I have done for this unit
beides the sculpture, and I felt like my premise expanded my knowledge
of the axolotl’s ancient historical meaning in the Aztec culture. next time,
if I had a bit more time I would revisit the scenes that felt a bit choppy or
under rended, and clean them up. But I really loved the outcome.